ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Brokers Avoiding Arbitration Awards
Our Santa Clara FINRA arbitration attorneys make no secret about being opposed to binding arbitration clauses. Our attorneys, like many in the state of California, believes that requiring consumers to forego their right to a public trial and instead compelling them to air their grievances before a private arbitrator hired by their opposition is unlikely to lead to a fair outcome. In fact, our firm has previously brought a case centering on arbitration all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
That being said, individual plaintiffs do win arbitrations sometimes, and when they do, the decisions of the arbitrator are binding. If companies expect their customers to abide by the decision of their hired arbitrator, they should do the same. However, there has increasingly been a problem of cash-strapped brokerage firms dissolving their companies in an effort to escape judgements they have been ordered to pay by an arbitrator.
It is not uncommon for brokerage firms to operate with relatively little cash reserves to pay clients that they’ve wronged. In addition, the new Department of Labor rule requiring brokers to shoulder a fiduciary duty for client to whom annuities are sold has made brokers unable to meet that standard uneasy.
While not exactly fly-by-night operations, many brokers and brokerage firms have little in the way of permanent infrastructure, and their most valuable assets are client lists and sales information that can be taken with them or sold to another firm. This allows more unscrupulous brokers to go to ground in the event of financial trouble, and some plaintiffs don’t have the means to seek out and demand their fair compensation from a broker that may be unable to pay.
While some solutions have been proposed for this issue, what it ultimately comes down to is that arbitration is far from a perfect solution for resolving financial disputes. Getting fair compensation for an abusive insurance or annuity policy requires a knowledgeable attorney who can negotiate a reasonable claim for damages, and ensure that the insurance company itself will help pay restitution.
Some of the major annuity and life insurance providers are:
- Aviva/Athene/Accordia Life Insurance Company
- Transamerica Life Insurance Company
- John Hancock Life Insurance Company
- Bankers Life Insurance and Casualty company
- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
- Midland Life Insurance Company
- North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
- Pacific Life Insurance Company
- Prudential Life Insurance Company
- Genworth Life Insurance Company
- ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company
- Lincoln Benefit Life Company
- Metlife/Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
- Unum Life Insurance Company of America
- Voya/Reliastar Life Insurance Company
Contact Us
You or a loved one has been the victim of an improperly sold or administered annuity or insurance policy, contact the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8869, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our Santa Clara insurance attorneys can help guide your case through a civil trial or toward an equitable settlement.
